Tsunku♂: “Inducting the 9th and 10th generations one after the other was a big thing. It was important having in there the two good dancers, Sayashi and Ishida. There were members with strong personalities, too. Fukumura, Ikuta, Sato, Iikubo, Kudo, and Suzuki… Looking back, it was perfect. And to top it all off, there was 11th generation’s Oda with her singing chops. If I was the coach of the school baseball club team and these were my regular members, I’d be certain that we could’ve won against any and every opponent — even accounting for the cleanup hitter.”

“Led by that Morning Musume, after 10 years of activities it felt like Berryz Koubou and °C-ute suddenly just bloomed, too. Before then, they had been seen as something like the “youngest children” of the Hello! Project family. But now they suddenly turned into the big sisters — it was like they became the “idols’ idols,” all through their own efforts.

I feel like that state of perfection is connected even to the Hello! Project of today. And maybe because of it, in that sense, I believe my role has ended.”

17: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:32:02.80 0.netThis is my first time seeing Tsunku♂ himself saying “his role (in H!P) has ended”…
Reading this made me sad.

11: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:28:46.76 0.netEverything was in good balance. The 9th, 10th, and 11th generation members were all chosen around Sayashi and that in itself made it feel like an independent group. Or, at the risk of hyperbole: it’s like the group already became coherent with the 9th generation and then the 10th and 11th generations were added on top of that just to fortify it some more.

15: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:30:50.28 0.net
That’s why we’ll have to wait until the 12th generation is at the top to really see a new, post-Sayashi Morning Musume. That’s when the next era will truly begin.

22: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:36:12.88 0.netI believe he had things he wanted to do with all of the group’s eras. But with so many young girls suddenly joining the group and with so many different characters in there, it must’ve really boosted his creative urge.

55: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:49:18.13 0.net
It’s true that the 9th/10th/11th generation group was its own era.

89: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:05:07.38 0.net
Tsunku’s songs were always written for certain members.
You can see really see that in the lyrics.

104: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:12:22.50 0.net
“Are you Happy?” was good — I was reminded of that yesterday when I was re-watching the footage from “ROCK IN” for the first time in a while. It’s scary to think that after the 9th, 10th, and 11th generations are gone, he might stop completely offering his songs to the group.

115: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:16:54.35 0.net
It made a world of difference that the office didn’t try to intervene with “One Two Three.”

108: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:14:43.15 0.netAll in all, it was just more fun when Terada was the producer.

158: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:25:49.78 0.net
I like Tsunku’s songs, but he can write better lyrics and songs overall when it’s him actually producing the members. Now with him just being a contract worker, it might be that only the melodies themselves are good.

201: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 12:34:04.85 0.net
Pretty much everyone agrees that it became a totally different thing beginning with the 12th generation. When Nonaka becomes the top member, that’s when things will finally change.

1. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 18:25 ID:E58Gz.fA0Half the members who Tsunku called perfect in that interview are now gone.It’ll be interesting to see how things play out from here.

6. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 19:16 ID:ywybDWs00
Up until the 4th generation, it was all Tsunku choosing the members and giving them advice directly during recording. And up until the 11th generation, he was producing the members. I think these two milestones in the group’s history were important. I know that what I’m asking would be difficult… but I want to see a Tsunku♂-produced Morning Musume once more.

13. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 20:28 ID:hCpyk.8×0
Looking back now, ’14 really was the best time. In many ways, I wonder how it would’ve been different had they kept going with those members until like 2016 or so…

15. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 20:43 ID:ywybDWs00
I liked Morning Musume then and I like them now, but it does feel like they keep steadily losing their flavor.

18. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 21:17 ID:ywybDWs00Why was Tsunku fired? I wonder who has the authority now? Who produces them? We can’t see the face of the person who’s making the group.

20. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 21:26 ID:RmuxkBH80>>18You need to remember that at the time, Tsunku’s condition was so serious that it wasn’t at all obvious if he was going to be able to regain his health to the extent that he has. The office advising him not to disregard his condition in order to keep working but to just bow out instead — that was totally decent and considerate of them.

30. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 22:13 ID:6DfVF3B20
Of course I like Tsunku’s songs, too. But whenever topics like this pop up, there are some people who like to romanticize the past. Back in late 2014 when Tsunku stopped being the exclusive producer, songs like “Susukino,” “Chikyuu wa Kyou mo,” and “TIKI BUN” all got an awful reception from the wota. Lots of people were going, “the group gets to appear on Music Station, and this is the song they’re performing…?“

During the talk he did with Matsuko, Tsunku himself was saying how around this time he was only doing output and no input at all. Now that he’s writing less songs, he’s influenced by the other H!P songwriters and he’s clearly able to write catchier, more listenable songs.

45. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 23:56 ID:Myj.NOK30
Starting with the 12th generation, the office no longer chooses new members based on their voice, their character, or their singing. They pick new members because they happen to look like Michishige, or to reward someone because they had been a member of the Kenshuusei for a long time, or because some group would become inactive with no new members… They’re all strictly business-related decisions.

It feels quite different to how Tsunku used to pick members. It’s like nowadays they don’t care about things like compatibility with the other members. Whenever Tsunku was picking new members at the Musume auditions, he would always be saying how he liked someone because there wasn’t a character like that in the group, or because she had a voice that no one else in the group did, and so on. You could say that it’s because Tsunku always clearly explained his reasons for choosing any particular member that most fans had no complaints.

25. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 21:36 ID:NJWk3qzZ0We don’t know how Tsunku really feels since he never criticizes or says a bad word about the UFA management. (No way does he really feel that his role in Hello! Project has ended.)

15 comments on “Tsunku♂: “My role in Hello! Project has ended.””

13. カラフル名無しさん 2019年06月30日 20:28 ID:hCpyk.8×0
Looking back now, ’14 really was the best time. In many ways, I wonder how it would’ve been different had they kept going with those members until like 2016 or so…

“Back in late 2014 when Tsunku stopped being the exclusive producer, songs like “Susukino,” “Chikyuu wa Kyou mo,” and “TIKI BUN” all got an awful reception from the wota.”

I get that from TIKI BUN because that was around the time the Tsunku-Okubo Kaori-EDM-Combo has already become stale, but Aa Susukino/Chikyuu wa Kyou mo Ai wo Hagukumu was actually my favourite S/mileage single. Of course ANGERME had more punch, and cute early S/m was more popular with the wota, but the memory of the single mentioned above is so bittersweet in that it really wasn’t half as bad as people made it look.

That being said,
it’s sad that Tsunku thinks that way. To be fair, now there’s 4 generations of girls in MM that he didn’t pick. In fact, he rejected many of them (though to be fair, most of them probably because they weren’t ready yet; I’m talking about Maria, Akane, Kaede, Chisaki). He probably has no connection to them anymore.

This is truly sad. With his role already having been reduced to “sound producer”, and with no way of knowing whether he meant this literally or not, this might mean no more Tsunku music–at least through the group he invented.

H!P would not have existed without Morning Musume, and Morning Musume would not have existed without Tsunku. How anyone could forget that…

Member choices in H!P now make absolutely no sense and have little regard for the groups themselves. The character and image of some groups have totally changed because of this recklessness.

Saying Momusu was picked around Sayashi is a bit ridiculous, the members were picked around each other, and it felt much more cohesive and dynamic. Nowadays girls get extra stressed and moved around because a new girl comes in with a similar look, character, or voice and it throws everything off. (Maho/Momona and Sayuki/Ruru for example.)

I don’t like so much of Tsunku’s music now, most of MM’s is straight up boring, but I miss his eye for members and respect for groups.

Sayuki and Ruru are nothing alike, though. Not in looks, not in personality, and not in singing. Oh, they’re both great singers, but they have completely different voices, and completely different deliveries.

“They pick new members because they happen to look like Michishige, or to reward someone because they had been a member of the Kenshuusei for a long time, or because some group would become inactive with no new members… They’re all strictly business-related decisions.”

Yep. This is why H!P was so unique, they had an actual rockstar as their producer and giving input on new member additions. Of course his role in picking members by himself was scaled back by the time 5th generation came around, but his opinion makes the difference. 12-15th Gen aren’t bad members, but they do seem like suits trying to cater to wota instead of thinking how they would add to or even change the group.

16: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/06/30(日) 11:30:58.22 0.net
So even Tsunku draws a line between pre and post-12th gen Morning Musume…

Yeah, while I like the 12th gen girls and beyond I feel like they’re a bit different than the 1st – 11th gen. The older gens were selected with more of an emphasis on personality, character and talent (hidden and obvious).. He choose girls that would fit the dynamic of the group or bring something its lacking. Nowadays the girls seem to be chosen more on politics, who can the Agency make money off of, which girls would the fans be more willing to support, or which girl has been a trainee for a bit too long. I still like the newer girls, Yokoyan is one of my favorites among the group, but they’re still a different type of idol than the older gens

Not gonna bring up the music too much cause everyone can tell the difference in quality between Tsunku and Non Tsunku songs cause in the end I still like the new songs for the most part

I feel just like that comment, people tend to romantizize 2014 a lot now…I for one remember the anger towards Riho only focused songs, repetitive sounds, lack of lines for other members, lack of opportunities for other members, and overall limited performance experience.
Honestly during that time, all I could keep thinking about was how when Sayumi left how could they go on, if their only good singer was Sakura with minimal lines for Mizuki and the other members…. and of course Riho constantly breaking her voice. There wasn’t enough singing, and there wasn’t enough dancing. They did a lil bit of everything but stood out in nothing.

Honestly, I was so impressed when I saw 2017’s performances. I took a break just before Riho’s graduation and it was like all of those posibilities started to slowly open. Everyone got a chance to sing, dance or stand out in some way to some level. No more “absolute center” bull*. And this is coming from someone who is not a fan of any particular member.

But then, its like they’ve started going back to the past with Riho, Ai…etc. Maybe a big graduation is was it takes.

Agreed. There was a fire to MM in Houston that they didn’t have the previous year. Riho was so far ahead of the pack that it disheartened them, but suddenly the actual possibility of competing for center got them energized again.
I don’t think a Riho-led MM would have been able to go as far with Rock in Japan.
(This isn’t a knock on Riho, more of dubious management decisions putting all of the weight on her had already kind of borked the group a little.)

Now, we do see another version of that dynamic now, where 9th-11th are so far ahead of 12th+, that you can see the latter gens being a little disheartened. So while fans will moan their inevitable graduations, I think it’ll be good for the group, let them reinvent themselves again. But in 2016, 12th gen are also still fired up with the possibilities.

I saw MM in both 2014 and 2016, but I didn’t get back into actively following them until the latter. MM14 was the Sayu-and-Riho show, so I never felt the real need to get to know the other members. MM16 had me hunting down clips for every member.

This is why I’m still bitter after all these years that the 9th-11th gen never got a single with just them after Sayumi graduated. They were immediately put together with 12th gen, so we would never get to see the true potential of “colorful era”.

We never got to see the MM that Tsunku wanted T_T

Like don’t get me wrong I love the 12th gen now but they were so not ready at the time and could’ve waited till the next single… (that way we wouldn’t have had such a long break between singles as well)

Just watched a H!P concert after a few years, and surprisingly momosu is the one group I wish wasnt in the concert cause they have no soul, no energy, and such bad singing.
Juice=Juice sang a momosu song and made momosu look like preschoolers performing in front of their parents.

I think a lot of people are still annoyed that Morning Musume is still the most popular group in Hp, and this makes them think that they’re so bad at performing that they don’t deserve it. The truth is this group is always evolving with the times, new members joining and old members leaving. If you really take the time to look beyond the few performances you hate, you can see how skilled they are. But a lot of those fans can’t even watch a few performances before going into a rant lol. Its interesting that a lot of those members of other groups originally wanted to be members of mm. Some of them actually got pretty far in the auditions, so its funny to see how angry some people are when they would be hyping mm if they fav were there pff